Art of ornamenting the edges of fabrics



(No Model.)

J. M. MERROW. ART OF ORNAMENTING THE EDGBS 0F FABRICS.

Patented Nov. 5. 1889.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH M. HERROW, OF MANSFIELD, CONNECTICUT.

ART OF ORNAMENTING THE EDGES OF FABRICS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 414,233, dated November 5, 1889.

Application filed April 5, 1888. Serial No. 269,772. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH M. MERROW, of Merrow, in the town of Mansfield, county of Tolland, and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Art of Crocheting; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to a new and im proved method of finishing or ornamenting the edges of fabrics, more especially designed for application to knitted goods, but capable as Well of application to other fabrics or materials.

My object is to produce a finish in Sllllllltude of or substitution for well-known forms of hand-made shell-stitch finish or borders, but of a more ornamental, varied, and durable character.

To this end my present invention, which relates solely to the method of producing the improved finish hereinafter described, consists in interlooping or enchaining a supplemental thread with the outer ends of a series of loops drawn from a given point in the material to form a cluster or group, the latter being spread or separated in shell-like form by connecting the opposite ends of the group or cluster to the material at more or less remote points. The preferred mode of effecting the introduction and incorporation of this supplement-a1 thread is by introducing it with the loops of the principal thread, as said loops are interlocked or interlooped beyond the edge of the material when forming the clusters, the supplemental thread being enchained within or along the margin of the finish.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a View in perspective of a piece of fabric with a cluster of loops attached thereto, the threads being magnified and separated to exhibit the stitches. Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating a subsequent stage of the process. Fig. 3 is a top plan view showing a portion of the finish.

Similar letters ofreference in the several figures indicate the same parts.

Any suitable means, devices, or mechanism may be employed for carrying into execution my improved method, and many of the wellknown forms of overseaming-stitehes may be utilized in forming the clusters of stitches in shell or scallop form, as described and claimed in my application (Serial No. 260,573) filed January 7, 1888; but for the purpose of illustrating my invention I have shown it in its application to the improved finish made in accordance with the method described in my said prior application, and as exemplifying some of the instrumentalities which may conveniently be used in carrying said method into execution I have represented in the drawings an eye-pointed needle D for carrying the main thread a through the fabric, a latched crochet-hook E for drawing and interlooping the thread a beyond the edge of the fabric, and a guide F for sustainingand directing the supplemental thread I).

The needle and looper may be actuated by hand or operated by mechanism in a manner well understood by those skilled in the art, the thread a being carried through the fabric by the needle, while the looper or crochethook is reciprocated to grasp the thread and draw and enchain or interloop it beyond the edge of the fabric.

The operations performed upon and with respect to the principal thread a are in the example given the same as are employed in executing the method and producing the fin .ish described in my prior application-that is to say, the thread is passed through the fabric a number of times at or about the same point, and loops are drawn alternately from opposite faces ofthe fabric and interlooped beyond the edge thereof, the loops taken from one side being drawn through a loop from the opposite side and the preceding loop on the same side, and when the desired number of loops have been formed the thread is passed through the fabric at adifferent place (which operation may be accomplished by feeding the fabric the required distance) and the looping operation repeated, whereby the cluster of loops is spread or distended into a shelllike or scalloped form. The characteristic features of this class of finish to which my invention is applied are the grouping of a series of loops or stitches radiating from a common point and enchained or interlooped beyond the edge of the fabric and spread apart in shell or scallop form by their attachment to the fabric or to a succeeding group or cluster of stitches. It is in connection with the formation of such a finish that my present improvement is introduced or applied; and it consists in the introduction of a supplemental thread with the interlooped ends of the loops beyond the edge of the fabric, said supplemental thread being enchained in and incorporated with the loops along the edge or margin of the finish, and serving not only to strengthen the finish and increase its body, but also to retain the ends of the loops in the proper relative positions to preserve the form of the shell or scallop.

' As illustrating one way of incorporating the supplemental thread during the formation of the finish, I will describe the operation in connection with the formation of the stitches shown in the drawings.

As hereinbefore stated, in this example each loop taken by the crochet-hook from above the fabric is drawn through two previouslyformed loops, the one projected from below and the other from above the fabric in a manner well understood. The supplemental thread I) is introduced and a loop taken therefrom each time a loop is taken from the thread a. above the fabric, and as the thread I) is not passed through the fabric, whereas the thread a is, it results that While the main thread is drawn in loops alternately from opposite sides of the fabric and interlooped or interlocked beyond the edge the thread I) is merely crocheted in or through the outer ends of the loops of thread a, 'so that when the cluster of loops or stitches formed from thread a is spread apart or expanded laterally the thread b, enchained in the outer ends of said loops, will not only retain the latter in position and prevent the too wide separation or drawing of the interlooped ends, but said chain of loops from thread b will also serve to re-enforce the outer edge of the shelllike finish and determine the spreading of the outer margin of the group or cluster of stitches.

A great variety of effects can be produced by using two or more threads of different materials, colors, or sizes, or by varying the tension upon either or both threads, and the clusters maybe made up of a suitable number of loops; or some clusters of the series may have a greater or less number of loops than others; or the distances between the points at which the thread is carried through the fabric may be varied.

In Fig. 3 the clusters 1, 2, and 3 are represented as formed with a lesser number of loops than clusters 4 and 5.

By the terms fabric and material as herein employed I desire to be understood as including the edge or margin of any material, either unfinished, bound, overseamed, crocheted, or otherwise re-enforced pr ornamented preliminary to the application of my present invention, or two or more such pieces of fabric laid or folded together.

The improved ornamental finish produced by the method described is not claimed herein, but is reserved for a separate application, Serial No. 304,255, filed March 22, 1889.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is l. Thehereinbefore-describedimprovement in the art of ornamenting or applying a finish to fabrics, the same consisting in forming a cluster of loops upon the edge by passing the main thread through the fabric a number of times at a given point, drawing loops from said thread and interloopingthe same beyond the edge, and simultaneously therewith enchaining a supplemental thread along the outer ends of the loops and then spreading the group or cluster of stitches by passing the main thread through the fabric at a point removed from the place of previous insertion, substantially as described.

2. The hereinbefore-describedimprovement in the art of forming an ornamental border on the edges of fabrics, the same consisting in forming a group or cluster of loops interlooped beyond the edge of the fabric, with their interlooped ends connected by an enchained supplemental thread by passing the main thread through the fabric a number of times at substantially the same point, drawing loops of said thread alternately from opposite sides of the fabric, each loop on one side, together with a loop from a supplemental thread, being drawn through a loop from the opposite side, producing a loop of the main thread and a loop of the supplemental thread, and spreading and positioning the cluster so formed by passing the main thread through the fabric at a difierent point where theloopforming operation is repeated.

JOSEPH M. MERROW.

Witnesses: I

FRANK I-I. ALLEN, HENRY H. BURNHAM. 

